Bridges We've Burned
by Jyoti
Summary: A five-shot about some of my favorite Secret life couples. AmyXJimmy, RickyXClementine, AdrianXBen, GraceXJason, JackXMadison
1. Amy & Jimmy

**Bridges We've Burned**

**Amy & Jimmy **

**Amy**

Amy held onto John's hand tightly as she made her way outside of her mothers car, a frown plastered on her face. Ashley was with George, while Amy traded off with her mom, deciding that she couldn't stay in Valley Glen at the moment. The dark skies seemed to match her personality that day, as she waited for her mother to get out she sighed. It had been eight months since Ricky decided to leave her for Clementine, and she was heartbroken. She missed them being a family. She knew they weren't perfect, and sometimes she questioned her love for him, but when it came down to it, she did love him and she wanted more than anything for it to all work out. Maybe he wasn't the first guy she fell in love with, or maybe he was. Although Ben was always by her side, she had always been attracted to Ricky. And maybe if she hadn't had John they wouldn't have became a family, but deep down inside Amy felt like she would still want to be with him, even if she didn't have the baby, or if she had never had sex in the first place. Would he want to be with her? Maybe, maybe not. When she thought of Clementine there was anger in her heart. She knew from the moment he talked about her that there could be something special, but she tried to push it aside. If only she hadn't then, she could have maybe done something about it.

"Amy?"

The sound of her mother's voice snapped her out of her thoughts of Ricky. She looked up at her, "What?"

"Your frown is affecting John and Robbie," she said as she held up Robbie who was imitating the same sad face that Amy had. Then she pointed to her son who as doing the same.

Amy sighed, "Well excuse me if I'm not all happy go lucky. I know it's been a while but he left me mom! He left me for...Clementine. What happened to him loving me, wanting to be with me forever? Where the hell did that go?"

Anne gave her daughter a sad smile as she patted her on the shoulder, "Honey sometimes things just don't work out. I know you love him but come on. Let's forget about that for a little while and have some fun in Palm Springs. Let's try to get you happy again," she said in an optimistic tone that Amy quite frankly couldn't care less about at the moment.

They made their way inside the new house that Anne had rented. Amy took off her jacket and admired the new decorating she had done. Anne had finally followed her dreams and became an architect in Palm Springs and it left her with this bubbly feeling inside. She was single and happy, and she loved being with Robbie, who was growing up so quickly.

The toys were all set for the two boys and Amy urged her son to go and play with some of them. She scolded her son when he took a block and threw it Robbie's head.

"John! No!"

He seemed to listen so she waved it off and headed over to the kitchen for some snacks. There were a few drinks but nothing else. She pulled out some grape juice and a large plastic cup. When was done pouring the drink and putting it back in the refrigerator she started drinking it as she kept an eye on John and Robbie.

Anne had just changed into something a little more comfortable when she came in and saw Amy drinking the juice. She mentally slapped herself, "Gosh I forget to go to the market to get some food. Hey Amy?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you run down to the nearest fast food place and get some food for everyone?"

Amy put her cup down, "Why can't we just cook something here?"

"I don't know I'm in the mood for fast food, and plus all we have here is soup and juice, and maybe some food for Robbie and John."

She raised an eyebrow at her mother, "Are you pregnant again?"

"AMY! Why would you even ask that! I haven't been seeing anyone for months now."

She sighed, "I guess that makes two of us huh? Since Ricky left me for Clementine. Clementine! Can you believe that?"

Anne rolled her eyes, "Can you please just go get some food?"

She huffed, "Fine. Do you have any money?"

She handed her twenty bucks and she walked over and put it in her pocket. She gave John and Robbie a kiss on the cheek and faked a smile, "John, mommy will be back." She grabbed the car keys and made her way to her mother's car. She took a seat in the smooth leather chair as she turned to some random radio station to drone out her never ending thoughts about her breakup with Ricky.

She remembered how after her break up with Ricky, Ben had tried to get closer to her and she enjoyed the company for a while, but they both decided in the long run that things weren't going to work out. They were different people now. They had grown up, and decided to go there separate ways. She settled on McDonalds and parked her car as quickly as she could. She got out, locked the door, and made her way inside. The place seemed full but the line wasn't too bad. She saw couples laughing and talking and it made her miss Ricky even more. She felt stupid that she put so much on the line for him, but she had to admit that she was getting tired of him too, just not enough to actually break it off.

When she finally got to the front of the line, the cashier smiled at her. She had short red hair and green eyes, "Hell may I take your order?"

Amy decided on two cheeseburgers, french fries, and two large drinks. The lady handed her the receipt with the number for her to be called on it, and she muttered a thank you. As she stood there she heard the sound of a very familiar voice.

"Amy?"

For the first time in months she smiled, "Jimmy!"

He pulled her into a hug, and they both took a seat at a random table, waiting for their numbers to be called. She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed him in line before. He flashed his pearly white teeth at her. Admittedly he missed her, "It's been-"

"A while...how are you?"

"I've been great. The super markets going well. How are you?"

"As well as I can be since I uh...broke up with my fiance."

He gave her a sad smile and looked down at the table, "Sorry I didn't mean to pry."

"It's ok."

"So you and Ben didn't work out?"

She was shocked when he said this but then she remembered how long it had been since she talked to him, "Oh gosh it's been a while! Uh Ben and I broke up a while ago, though after the break up with my fiance eight months ago, we tried again but decided not to be together."

"Oh."

"Yeah I was recently with John's dad Ricky," she choked on his name and Jimmy noticed the sad expression on her face.

"You don't have to talk about it Amy. So uh, what are you doing out here?"

She ignored him as she felt the tears fall down her face, "I knew that maybe what we had wasn't true love. I knew maybe he wasn't in love with me and I with him but I did love him so I put that all aside. I figured that Ricky was what I deserved you know? He is a good guy now and even though he hasn't always been, he really changed. He changed for me...and John. But I guess he got tired of me because he broke it all off. He gave me some crap about how he loved me but he was in love with someone else."

Jimmy was startled that Amy had suddenly gotten emotional, but he also felt bad for her.

"Number 41!"

Jimmy looked over at Amy, "That's me."

Shortly after he called a few more numbers and it was Amy's turn to get up. She grabbed her food and Jimmy helped her get the food to her car. He stared at the brunette as she tried to apologize for her emotions.

"It's ok Amy. And I'm sorry I over reacted about the condoms."

"No, that was my fault. I was just really nervous about everything. I know you said that you didn't want to have sex but after Ricky I just...I felt like I had to keep my guard up you know?"

He nodded, "I understand."

She turned to get inside her car but he grabbed her arm gently, "So Amy I just have to ask you. You're not seeing anyone right now?"

"After Ricky?" she let out a dark chuckle, "No."

"Then maybe since you're not seeing anyone, you could think about seeing me again. No drama, just you and me. We could go out and get a pizza, or talk. No condom surprises or anything like that. Maybe I could see John?"

She stayed silent for a moment, unsure of what to say.

He grabbed the back of his neck, clearly nervous, "Sorry I came on too strong. I just...I dated a few girls when we broke up but I couldn't stop thinking about you and-"

She smiled and grabbed his shoulders and kissed him. He returned the kiss, still in shock. Amy pulled away, a small smile on her face, "Maybe I will consider it Jimmy. Maybe when I'm emotionally ready we could just try it one last time."

He smiled, "I'd like that."


	2. Ricky & Clementine

**Meant to Be**

**Ricky & Clementine**

**Ricky**

Ricky listened as Clementine talked about another time she remembered when her and Ricky were in foster care. He would never get tired of hearing her voice, or seeing her face. She was beautiful beyond compare. When she spoke it was with intelligence, not just meaningless words that didn't make sense. She was wiser than most woman her age, and she had things to talk about besides the regular gossip he was forced to hear everyday of his life. He hated politics, but the moment it came from her mouth it suddenly made sense.

It had only been weeks ago that Ricky decided to break it off with Amy. She was angry with him and told him that she was taking John. Legally he knew she couldn't, but Ricky understood if she needed to take him away for a few weeks. If he were in her shoes, he would feel sad, overwhelmed, and angry. But he knew that it would hurt her even more in the long run if he got married to her knowing he wasn't in love with her. It wasn't like Clementine and Ricky decided that they wanted to be together or anything. When he first saw her although he found her very attractive, he was still in love with Amy. It was only after time that he realized how much him and Clementine had in common, and how much he cared for her. So of course he didn't do anything the second he met her. He never believed in love at first sight, he believed that you needed to get to know a person to love them. But Ricky and Clementine had met long ago, and for some reason it felt like they were meant to be, like there was some reason that they met up after all of these years.

Clementine was definitely different from all of the other girls he had seriously dated.

She wasn't too fiery like Adrian.

She wasn't too dependent like Amy.

And she was nothing like Ashley, who mostly kept to herself.

Although he felt something for all three of those girls, he felt like with Clementine he had finally met his match. Clementine knew her limit, and would make sure he knew it too. She wasn't the type of girl to have sex on the first date, or the third. She was the type of girl that you had to be serious about. She was the type of girl that was independent and didn't need a man, yet Ricky wanted to be her man. In a lot of ways, she was almost like a mixture of the girls he had seriously dated.

She was fiery when she stood up for herself like Adrian.

She was sweet and modest like Amy.

And she was bold and smart like Ashley.

He knew that she wasn't perfect, there were things that they would argue about once they got past the puppy love stage, but he was in love with her. Clementine felt the same way about Ricky, and as her feelings for him started to escalate, she suddenly felt guilty because of Amy. She liked Amy as a friend. She seemed like a sweet enough girl and she would never want to hurt the mother of Ricky's baby. When she saw Ricky she wanted to be with him but she thought Amy and Ricky were a great couple, and she decided to stay out of their way. She noticed that when they were with John they were the happiest, but she also noticed how stressed Ricky seemed to be. And most teen parents do get stressed for long periods of time, but it seemed different. He never seemed happy, and so she wasn't too surprised when Ricky told her that be broke it off with Amy.

However, she was completely shocked when he explained that he left Amy for her.

But now they were putting the past behind him as they strolled through the park. Ricky talked about John, how much he missed him and Clementine brought up every subject she could think of. When they held hand she felt something, and when he kissed her he was shocked that it felt so exciting because he had kissed plenty of girls before. Her beauty captivated him, and his personality excited her.

Ricky and Clementine got what they deserved.

Their happy ending. Though they were separated after switching from one foster home to another, they found each other again and after that nothing separated them again.


	3. Adrian & Ben

**Mistakes We Made**

**Adrian & Ben**

**Adrian**

Adrian watched as snow flakes fell from the dark blue sky. It was Christmas Eve and she was supposed to be having the time of her life with Omar and his family but something was blocking her from that. She knew Omar was a good guy. He could support her, love her, and care for her, but even though she tried to do the same with him, she couldn't get that one guy out of her mind. _Ben._ Ever since they'd been in the hospital to see Jack, Adrian had been thinking a lot about Ben and Mercy and what things would have been like. She looked up at the sky, wrapping her tan arms around her body to warm herself. She closed her eyes for the first time since she was a little girl and she prayed to a God that she wasn't even sure existed. She prayed that God would be protecting Mercy and that she wouldn't be punished for her actions. Then she thought of Ben.

Despite her love for Ricky, she had always liked Ben even if it wasn't in a romantic way. Adrian loved Ricky a lot but Ben was the one she was in love with. He was one of the few guys that took the time to get to know her and realize that she wasn't just some girl to have sex with. When he looked at her, she felt special. Ben and Adrian were always good friends, and he was so forgiving of everything she did, even when he shouldn't have been. In a lot of ways, Ben reminded her of Antonio. The sound of light footsteps interrupted her thoughts. She turned her heat to see that it was Omar. He was smiling at her as he moved closer and wrapped his arms around her.

She had to keep herself from sighing as he pulled her into a long kiss. She didn't return it so he let go of her and gave her a confused look, "Babe, you alright?"

"No," she said, shocked that those words had come out of her mouth, "I'm really not alright. I feel sick Omar, can you please take me home?"

"But my mamma's just starting to cut the cake and-" he stopped when he saw the look in her eyes. He sighed, "Alright, I'll take you home. I hope you get better."

He placed an arm over her shoulder as they made their way out the house. It took a while to explain to Omar's mom that Adrian was sick and needed to be taken home. When they got into the car, Omar waited a while before putting the car in drive. He stared at Adrian before saying, "What's really going on?"

"What do you mean?" Adrian asked, fumbling with her fingers as she looked down at the floor of the car.

"I mean you're not acting like yourself and I know that you're not really sick. At least not in a, I need to be home, or I need to rest way," he said, a serious tone in his voice.

She let out a sigh and she stared into Omar's eyes, as her own began to water. She caressed his cheek and gave him a kiss before taking off the necklace that he had just given to her when she came over. He shot her a confused glance, but she couldn't speak. Realization hit him, and he turned away from her, "You want to break up don't you?"

"I'm sorry Omar you're a great guy believe me it's just, there's someone else that I need to be with right now," she said, giving a small smile, "Thanks for everything."

He shrugged, "I'll always be here in case you change your mind Adrian. Don't forget that."

"I won't," she smiled as he put the car in drive and made his way to her house.

When she got out he walked her out to her door and she smiled, wiping the tears out of her eyes, "It's been real."

"Likewise Adrian, don't be a stranger," he said, planting a kiss on her cheek then taking off.

_An Hour Later_

It was about 11:00 by now, and Reuben had just came home. Adrian couldn't help but let out a small laugh when he ran over to Cindy and kissed her passionately.

"Alright you two get a room. Oh wait you guys already-"

Cindy shot a glance at her daughter then playfully nudged her, forcing the family to laugh.

"Hey lovebirds, I have somewhere to be, I'll be back in an hour or so," she said, and they glanced at her with curiosity.

"Are you going with Omar or something? You know I still haven't met that boy," he questioned, and Adrian waved a hand at him carelessly, "No, no, Omar and I are over...he's a great guy but it just wasn't working out. I'm actually going to go see uh, Ben. But it's nothing big, just want to wish him a Merry Christmas."

When she noticed the smile on his face she rolled her eyes, "I said it's nothing alright!"

"Alright Adrian! Just, text me when you get there and when you get home," he said, but his face still remained smug.

"Oh gosh, ok daddy." She grabbed the keys and made her way to the car. She hopped in and didn't bother turning on the radio. Instead she hummed some of her favorite holiday tunes. She felt her heartbeat quicken when she finally arrived at his house. She didn't know what she was going to say to him, she had hurt him so much, and she truly felt sorry for that.

She ran over to the door, and her teeth slammed together because of the cold. She knocked on the door and waited patiently. When the door opened, a kind blonde lady smiled and said, "Oh you must be one of Ben's friends."

"Uh yeah, something like that," she smiled. Ben had told her all about Camille but strangely, the two had never met. Probably because she was so busy with Omar and Ben was so busy with his own life.

When she came inside she noticed how grand and beautiful the house looked. There were decorations everywhere and Camille was gleefully making a cake. She could hear Leo's laughter from far away and she followed his voice. Clearing her throat she got his attention and waved. It felt awkward to her to ask Leo, if she could speak to Ben after everything she had done.

"I know I don't deserve it Leo, but could I please talk to Ben?" She asked, and he pondered it for a moment, "Ben's upstairs in his room with Chloe."

"Thanks Leo," she said, and she made her way up to his room that was so familiar. She knocked on the door and she heard Ben's soft voice reply, "Come in dad."

Adrian felt herself began to shake as she opened the door and saw Ben and his adoptive sister Chloe sitting next to each other and casually talking. When he locked eyes with Adrian, he felt overwhelmed. Chloe noticed the two's strange connection, and she left the room, "I'm going to go help Camille with that cake."

Adrian walked toward Ben and took a seat, "It's been a while..." she breathed, "I don't even know where to began."

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his eyes unable to move from the Latina's beautiful face. He couldn't help but still have feelings for her, even after everything they had went through, in his heart he still considered her his wife.

"Ben, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry, I'm sorry for everything I put you through. You did so much for me, and all I did was push you away. We had a condo, and I practically kicked you out and used it for my own selfish reasons. I know that you probably don't want to hear this, but even after everything we've been through, I.._te llamo,_" she said, trying to catch hold of her emotions.

Ben was shocked to say the least. After all his days of waiting to hear this from Adrian, he never thought that he would be so taken off guard, "Adrian, we both made mistakes. We hurt each other so much, maybe it's even irreparable. But I still...I still love you Adrian," he chuckled darkly, "I spent all my time chasing after some girl who was pregnant with another guy. I knew when we first started going out that she didn't love me, not like I loved her at least. Because everyone wanted Ricky, everyone loved him. Then the night we had sex...I thought for once I had finally found love, but I forgot how attached you were to Ricky. And when we found out you were having that baby, I saw you change, and when she was..." he stopped, trying to catch his breath, the tears fell down his eyes, "When she was taken away, we both changed. We tried to be with everyone else but each other because we're just like that. We want to do everything ourselves instead of getting help. But I don't blame you Adrian. I don't blame you at all."

Adrian didn't know what to say now as she played with the hem of her shirt, avoiding his eye contact until finally she forced herself to look at him, "Ben, can we ever go back to the way we were? I don't want Omar, Ricky, or any other guy. I just want you. And I don't why but-"

She was cut off when Ben suddenly pressed his lips to hers. She felt her heart skip a beat, and she pulled him closer, tasting his tongue. The two continued their rough make-out session then they fell on to he bed. Adrian and Ben quickly pulled away, "We don't need to do that again."

"Maybe not today but someday," he joked, and she laughed.

Their was a silence between them, and neither had really resolved everything that had happened. But it was Christmas Eve now, and all the two wanted to do was have some fun, and for the first time in a while they felt like they were doing the right thing.

"I have a gift for you," Ben said, as he got up from his bed and pulled out a colorful bag.

"Ben I don't deserve it I really don't," she said, but he waved her off, "Open it, it's a gift for the two of us."

"Did you know that I was going to come over or something? Why did you get me the gift when we have hardly been talking?" she asked, and he shrugged, "I planned on coming to you, or asking Reuben to give it to you tonight, but now here you are."

She let out a tiny grin as she opened up the present, it was a picture of a beautiful little girl. She had tanned skin, dark hair, and a tiny smirk on her face. She was gorgeous but Adrian was confused. She looked up at Ben and raised an eyebrow, "Who is this?"

"This is Mercy," he gave a weak smile, "I found this site online that creates pictures of little babies based on what you type in the description box. Whenever I start to miss her, I look at this picture and it gives me some type of hope. It makes me feel like she's still out there somewhere. Sometimes I even like to think that my mom is taking care of her."

Adrian hadn't talked about Mercy since she was in the hospital the night Jack was attacked. She let her head fall onto his shoulder and she sighed as she looked at the picture. She missed Mercy, but being there with Ben made her feel like she still had a happy family and someday she would be with Ben and Mercy permanently.


	4. Grace & Jason

**Fate**

**Grace & Jason**

**Grace**

Everything should have been falling in place for Grace. She was on Christmas Break, Jack was alive, and she was starting to gain her faith in the Lord back. But even as she read her Bible, or talked to her friends, there was one thing that bothered her. Jack wasn't her boyfriend anymore. When he woke up and started physical therapy as soon as he could, Grace would come by to see him everyday. He seemed happy, yet there was something else that she couldn't explain. It was only weeks later that Jack explained to her that he didn't want to be anything more than friends and that his heart belonged to someone else. She was crushed. She had spent everyday in that hospital waiting for him to wake up. No one else but her and now he didn't want to be with her? She wondered who this girl was and she assumed it was Clementine but her and Clementine were friends now and she assured her that she did not want Jack, even if they had sex before.

"Grace!"

The cheery sound of her mother's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Ever since George came back into the picture, her mother had never been happier. Grace found it weird but she was able to deal with it. She made her way downstairs, throwing on a pink robe. She saw Tom and Jacob playing videos games as her mother baked cookies. Kathleen smiled at her daughter, "Want to help with the cookies?"

She shook her head, "No thanks."

"Really! You would usually jump at a chance to bake cookies. I'm going to stop by Rev. Stones house tomorrow and give him these. They're for the church banquet to raise some money for charity," she said as she mixed the dough together.

"I just don't really feel like doing anything."

Kathleen gave her daughter a sad smile, "Is this about Jack?"

"Mom how could he just break up me and not even tell me who this girl is! I really loved him."

"I know you did honey but sometimes things just don't work out. Jack was not the man for you and now you have to move on. Take some time to focus on yourself for once."

She groaned, "You're being insensitive. I had my heart broken.

Kathleen rolled her eyes, "I'm sorry honey."

"Whatever. Hey do you have an extra batch of cookies made? I forgot that I was supposed to take some down to our local hospital for Christmas."

"Yeah sure I can just make some more. Go ahead and take that batch over there," she said, pointing to the left of her.

"Thanks," she said. She started heading upstairs when the sound of Jacob's voice stopped her, "Mind if I go with you? I haven't really spent much time with you."

Grace rolled her eyes though he couldn't see it. She still didn't know how she felt about Jacob as a brother. She knew it wasn't his fault, but it still hurt, "I'll have to take a rain check on that but thanks for asking...brother. Oh! Tom's beating your score."

He chuckled.

Grace threw on a lacy white top and some skinny jeans. She put on a winter coat and fixed her hair in the mirror that seemed to look pin straight since she had forgotten to curl it. She shrugged at this, it's not like she was seeing anyone anyway. When she came downstairs she grabbed the cookies and made her way to the car. She drove up to their local hospital, and it only took her about twenty minutes to get there. She got out and she felt the cold air hit her as she grabbed the container of cookies. As she made her way inside, she forced a smile on her face despite her lousy week. If she didn't look cheerful, she knew that they would ask her what's wrong, and she didn't feel like repeating the story of how Jack didn't want her anymore. She made her way inside and smiled at the receptionist and the curly haired girl waved, "Grace! It's so great to see you," she took a look at the container, "Are those the cookies? They look great."

Grace laughed, "Yeah but unfortunately I had forgotten all about them. My mom made them, but she's as good a baker as I am so I'm sure they taste great."

"It's not like you to be forgetful," she stated as she was handed the container from Grace.

"I've had a bad week," she shrugged, and the lady nodded, knowing not to question her further.

"Well thanks for bringing the cookies! I really appreciate it."

"No problem."

She chatted with the receptionist for a little while longer before deciding to head out. But she stopped halfway when she suddenly noticed a tall dark skinned boy standing with perfect posture. He was talking to one of the doctors in the building.

"Thank you for the information. I'm going to med school pretty soon and I am _very _serious about my future so I thought I'd ask one of the best doctors in Valley Glen."

After hearing that she knew it couldn't be anyone else but, "Jason?"

He turned around at the sound of his name being called. His eyes glanced at the blonde that was only a few feet away from him, "Grace?"

They smiled, "Grace! It's good to see you."

She chuckled, "It's great to see you too."

He gave her a hug and the doctor made his way back to his office.

"What are you doing up here?"

"I just came by to give the workers some cookies for the holiday. You?"

He laughed, "Just getting some information about what it's like to be a doctor before I'm shipped off to med school."

She smiled, "That's really great Jason...so how have you been?"

As he talked she couldn't help but notice how handsome he was. His dark skin appealed to her, and his pearly white teeth shined. He looked taller, and dressed better.

"...And so besides Lauren, I've been pretty good," he said, forcing Grace to snap her head up at him, "Oh well that's great then! I guess I should get going Jason but it was nice talking to you."

"Likewise," he smiled then reached to shake her hand. She looked down at it, almost not comprehending what he was trying to do. She laughed as she mentally face palmed herself before reaching to shake his hand. She felt her heart flutter from his touch and when they pulled away, she was dying to say more.

"I missed you Grace. Keep in touch," he said in all honesty. Thy exchanged numbers before Jason finally departed. He hugged her again then left the building.

"Hm, I sensed a little something," the receptionist said, not even looking up from her typing.

Grace laughed at her, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

But inside she couldn't help but find herself wanting to take Jason up on that phone call.

**Note: **Not my best one-shot but oh well. I really do like Grace/Jason together, although I ship her with other people too. I'm more of a Grace/Ben shipper than anything :P


	5. Jack & Madison

**Can't Believe My Ears**

**Jack & Madison**

**Jack**

When Jack woke up from his coma he was completely changed. Throughout his coma he had been fearful, so he expected to be happy that Grace was right by his side, kissing him, hugging him, and telling him that she loved him, but something ripped at his insides. There was something he had to tell her before she got hurt, "Grace," he breathed as he grabbed her hand. She looked at him with all the happiness in the world, "Jack you're awake! I knew that God would let you live!"

"Grace we need to talk," he said and took notice of how it hurt to breath.

"Of course we do but maybe you should get some rest."

"No it's fine."

"Ok then Jack. I just want you to know that I love you so much. It took me lying here for me to finally realize how much I love you," she smiled as tears fell down her eyes and from that moment he knew that this was going to be the hardest thing he ever had to do.

"Grace I love you too," he breathed, "But I don't want to be in a relationship with you."

Grace pulled her arm back in shock. He watched as she blinked back tears and he felt like the biggest jerk in the world, "Grace...when I was in that coma everything was so scary. Then I saw Him...God I mean. And God told me that I was going to get a second chance at life, but that I had a decision to make on love. I didn't understand it at first but now I do. I heard her voice and I saw her face during my coma and I knew that all I wanted was for her to be right here with me."

She pinched her lips together as the tears fell down her face, "So it's another girl?"

He stayed silent.

"Who is it Jack?" she pushed, "Is it Clementine?"

He shook his head. Although Clementine was beautiful and smart, he was never interested in getting to know her, just her body.

"Jack I can't walk away without knowing the girl who took you from me."

He exhaled, "You'll be mad."

He turned away from her.

"I don't care I need to know," she repeated.

He stared into her eyes and said, "It's...Madison.. Grace I'm-"

"T-That slut!" she shrieked, "You're trying to tell me that God told you to be with a slut! What the hell kind of game is this Jack! How is she better than me, is it because she puts out!"

"Grace please," he said as he tried to grab her hand but she pulled away, "It has nothing to do with sex, and the next time we do have sex I want the two of us to be married. God showed me that I'm in love with her."

"I thought you were in love with me," she cried.

He sighed, "Grace let's face it. The two of us aren't good for each other. I know we've been back and forth and I hate to hurt you but it's the truth. We care about each other but I want Madison to be my wife."

"Fine then Jack go live happily ever after with Madison. Merry Christmas," she said, as she stormed off.

Jack began taking physical therapy shortly after everyone found out that he was alive and well. He was just about to start his class when he saw the girl that had been on his mind for the longest time, "Madison."

Madison smiled and made her way over to Jack, she was back to being a redhead and Jack was glad. She pulled him into a hug. He groaned in pain and she let go, quickly apologizing, "Sorry! Eek! I'm just so happy that you're alive Jack! I've spread the news to everybody."

Jack laughed at Madison's perkiness, "Madison there's something I need to tell you."

Madison felt the nerves inside her as she took a step back, "What is it?"

"Madison," he said, taking in a second to repeat the name in his head, he would never get tired of hearing that name for as long as he lived, "I love you."

The reaction Madison gave him was not one that he was quite expecting. She laughed. Jack looked at her surprised, "Why are you laughing? I just told you I love you."

"It's so...unlike you," she said, unable to control her laughter this time.

"What do you mean? I've told you I love you before."

"But you didn't really mean it...I mean, not like the way you said it now. Are you sure you really love me?" she questioned, "Because I'm not interested in sex, at least not right now anyway."

"It's not about sex Madison," he said, stunning himself with the words he had chosen. He fumbled over his words, "What I mean is...I-I want to be with you. Not Grace, not anyone else, but you. I want us to get married and have kids and be just be together."

Madison stared into his eyes, and she knew that he was telling the truth. A smile melted through her confused face and she grabbed his arm gently, "I want to be with you too Jack."

He smiled at this, "Well good."

"But why do you want to be with me?" she asked, and he thought about it for a moment, "You're the only one that really gets me. I admit, when I first went out with you it was so that I could get over Grace, but after spending so much time with you I learned a lot about you. You're funny, pretty, helpful, and nice. You put others needs before yourself, and even if you spread a lot of rumors, you're a good friend, to Amy and to Lauren. We've both made a lot of mistakes in the past Madison, and I don't think we should have had sex so soon, but I wouldn't take back any minute I spent with you as a couple. I don't know why it took being in a coma to realize that, but it did."

Madison was overwhelmed with the words that were coming out of Jack's mouth. She had never heard him speak so sincerely before. She stood on her tiptoes and planted a soft kiss on his lips, "Let's try this out again, us I mean. Let's just see where things go."

Jack smiled, "I like the sound of that."

And she kissed him again.


End file.
